


There’s a blood shortage

by allofspace



Category: The Resident (TV 2018)
Genre: 2x21 tag, First Time, Fluff, M/M, a little smut, blood donating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 16:04:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20799323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allofspace/pseuds/allofspace
Summary: Based on episode 2x21. “Conrad and I donated together the other day.”Devon is single again. Conrad and Nic have broken up amicably. So they go donate blood?? Or “the one where Conrad tricks Devon into going on a date and Devon doesn’t know it.”





	There’s a blood shortage

**Author's Note:**

> This started because Devon makes an offhand comment about donating blood with Conrad and I found that hilarious and had to write something about it.

“Wanna hang out tonight?”

Devon looked around. He was the only one here with Conrad aside from the unconscious patient. 

“What?” Conrad asked with a laugh. “We’re friends aren’t we? Friends hang out.”

“Uh, yeah, no, it’s just...” Devon started politely, then rethought his approach. He could be honest with Conrad. “Ok fine. I am a little surprised. It’s not like we’ve hung out much outside of work.”

“Ok, well maybe I want to change that,” Conrad replied. “I thought you could use some cheering up after everything with Julian.”

Devon considered this. Had he said something to Conrad? Not really, beyond giving him the long story short. Devon was actually pretty fine with it all. He was just glad she wasn’t dead and that they both got some closure. But he sensed that Conrad was still only using that as an excuse. 

“Sure,” he said. “Sounds good, thanks.”

Conrad smiled. “Alright then.” 

They met up outside the hospital at the end of their shifts. “So where are we going?”

“There’s a national shortage of blood,” Conrad said, as if that was an explanation.

“Sorry?” Devon said.

“We’re going to give blood,” Conrad said with his famous cocky, shit-eating grin that Devon had always found infectious. It always made him feel like he was in on the joke. 

Devon smiled back. “Great,” he said a little sarcastically. It wasn’t exactly what he’d been hoping for but he was open to any kind of bonding time with Conrad. 

They took a cab to the nearest blood clinic and Devon was a little relieved that there was a small line. At least there were regular people out there trying to help. 

They made small talk until it was their time to be seated. Neither him nor Conrad flinched as they got their needles put in.

“So how are you doing with all the Julian stuff?” Conrad finally asked. 

Devon sighed inwardly. “Fine,” he said. He tried to lift his arm but he was feeling a little weak. His head felt woozy. He looked at Conrad, who was just a blur and then as everything faded to black, he mostly heard yelling.

He came to with Conrad hovering over him. The worry in his face quickly replaced with a teasing smile. “You fainted,” he said.

“No way,” Devon said. 

“Luckily,” Conrad continued. “You were basically done so you’ve still saved some lives today.”

One of the nurses came over. “Let’s get you some juice and cookies, honey.”

Once he started on his second juice box, he began feeling a little better. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

Conrad made a gesture of zipping up his lips.

“Sorry I made you come with me,” he said.

Devon tolled his eyes. “It’s fine. Maybe give me more notice next time so I can drink more fluids beforehand.”

“I won’t tell anyone about this... if,” Conrad said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Devon was preparing himself for some horrible task or another he’d have to take on. “If you let me buy you dinner.”

Devon laughed abruptly at that. “Yeah I think that makes us almost even,” he said, throwing a whole cookie into his mouth. 

Dinner was at a fancier restaurant than Devon had ever gone to with Priya. It was an oddly intimate atmosphere. 

“What is this place?” Devon asked quietly. The waiter brought over a bottle of wine that Conrad had ordered, the price of which had made Devon want to vomit. 

Conrad just laughed at his uneasiness. “It’s basically the best restaurant in all of Atlanta. How have you not heard of it?”

Devon tried to hide his embarrassment. “Not my style,” he replied.

“Look, don’t worry about it. Just try to enjoy. Their food is literally the best thing you’ll ever taste.”

So Devon tried to relax, even though he felt underdressed and like everyone was staring at him even though no one was whenever he looked around. 

There weren’t many tables which probably gave the place exclusivity, so every table was full. Devon took an apprehensive sip of wine and then he really relaxed.

“Ok that’s definitely the best wine I’ve ever had.”

Conrad smiled widely. “See?” Conrad took a sip from his own glass. 

“So you fainted earlier when I asked about Julian,” Conrad said unexpectedly.

Devon laughed. “Yes, but definitely nothing to do with the question.”

“So,” Conrad said. Devon wondered why he was so interested. “How are you? Are you getting over her?”

They didn’t talk about this stuff. I mean sure they talked about relationships on a higher level and knew what was going on in each other’s lives but they didn’t talk about feelings. Devon didn’t think Conrad “did” feelings. 

“Um, I’m fine,” Devon said because it was he truth. Conrad seemed suspicious. “No, really. I don’t know, we both got closure and when she left, it felt fine.”

Conrad nodded like he was trying to understand but maybe didn’t. Like he was trying to solve a problem in his head. 

“How are you and Nic?” Devon asked because it felt like the natural next step to this conversation.

Conrad looked down at his hands. “Uh, we broke up actually.”

“What?” Devon said a little too loud. But everyone around them were trying too hard not to look at them anyway. “When did this happen?”

“Last week,” Conrad admitted.

“Why didn’t you say something? You guys have been working together like normal,” Devon said, more trying to explain it to himself. Had he missed some sort of sign?

“We’re staying friends. And it’s honestly pretty easy. I think maybe it’s saying something about our relationship because it’s so easy.”

Devon considered this and nodded. He didn’t really know what else to say though. “Sorry man,” he offered.

“Thanks,” Conrad said in that flat tone he did when he was getting sympathy he didn’t want or need. 

“So,” Devon said. “This place?” He raised his eyebrows.

Conrad rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yes I’ve had a reservation for months and couldn’t take Nic anymore,” he said with a laugh. 

“Ok, I’m glad we got that cleared up,” Devon said with a friendly laugh back. His face started to heat up though. Was it weird to go with your coworker to a place like this? With a reservation meant for that colleague’s ex-girlfriend?

He pushed the thought aside. Conrad had been the one to take him here and didn’t seem weird about it. It’s not like Devon had had a choice in the matter.

Dinner was extremely enjoyable. Both Conrad’s company and the insanely good food which there was far too little of.

He was a little wine drunk, warm and happy, at the end of dinner and it took no convincing when Conrad suggest they go to a bar next. 

They continued their drinking and played a game of pool which Conrad won. He was the worst kind of winner, cheering loudly for himself and then being annoyingly condescending to Devon.

It should have been annoying but Devon was more annoyed that he was finding it endearing. His drunk brain was unable to even act annoyed about it. He just smiled and laughed and played along.

“Yes, bow down to the king of billiards,” Devon said and leaned his torso foreword to bow.

The motion made him almost lose balance but Conrad was there to catch his elbow and steady him.

“Alright, I think maybe you’ve had enough,” he said playfully. “Let’s get a cab and get out of here.”

“But I’m having fun!” Devon protested. He didn’t really feel that drunk, the bowing just hadn’t been a good idea. 

“We can keep having fun in the safety of your apartment,” Conrad said.

His hand on Devon’s arm was warm except for the cool metal rings he wore. Conrad corralled him outside where the cool night air sobered him a little. 

He couldn’t help but notice Conrad’s hand had moved to the small of his back. Devon relaxed into the touch, purposely not pointing out, while Conrad hailed a cab. 

He then softly guided Devon into the cab. He collapsed into the seat awkwardly so his back was to the far corner but his legs were still in the middle. When Conrad took his seat, it was impossible for their legs not to touch. 

Devon may have been testing him a little. Conrad didn’t point it out or try to move his legs away, he just let them press against each other. Devon remembers talking and laughing on the way home, but he isn’t sure what about.

At Devon’s apartment building, Conrad got out of the cab with him but then leaned through the window to tell the cabbie to just wait a couple minutes. 

“I thought you were coming up!” Devon complained. He tried for a joking tone to hide the disappointment he suddenly felt.

“That was just to get you out of the bar,” Conrad said. Again with that mischievous smile. “I just wanted to make sure you got home okay.” 

“No,” Devon said, because yeah, he was drunk enough to be a little pushover than usual. “No you said we were gonna keep having fun and I have a PlayStation upstairs I haven’t used in like 2 years.”

Conrad actually had the audacity to look torn between his options. Devon wasn’t sure why he was suddenly being so hesitant. 

He put on his most convincing sad puppy dog look.

Conrad groaned, “Ugh fine.”

He paid the cabbie and the car drive away.

“Woo!” Devon yelled. “I won!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Conrad laughed. “King of puppy dog eyes.”

Devon brought Conrad up to his apartment and only as he opened the door became a little self conscious. It was pretty empty since Priya left and he hadn’t had a lot of time to buy things to fill the space. 

“Beer?” Devon asked.

Conrad gave him a suspicious look but agreed. “Sure.”

Devon was already feeling more sober and was missing the nice buzz he had going. 

He gulped down almost half his beer as Conrad watched. Then he did the same. 

Devon couldn’t help but notice the way Conrad held the bottle and the lazy way he always stood. He hadn’t noticed until now how tight Conrad’s sweater was to his body. Then again, Conrad always wore tight clothes so it was par for the course. 

Devon stopped staring as Conrad brought the bottle back down to the counter. “So what games do you have?”

Oh yeah, the games. “Honestly, not much,” Devon admitted with a cringe. 

He went to the system and dusted it off. He only had a couple of game cases in the shelf that he handed to Conrad.

“Your choice,” he said as he plugged the system into the TV. “I haven’t played anything in so long. Priya never liked it.”

“Gran Turismo. Definitely,” Conrad said. 

“Of course, it’s always a competition wth you,” Devon said playfully. 

“Everything’s a competition,” Conrad said as he came closer to Devon. 

Devon swallowed dryly at Conrad’s gravelly tone. At the way his gaze dropped to somewhere that could have been Devon’s mouth and then back up. At how close they were suddenly standing. He couldn’t help but look when Conrad bit his own bottom lip. 

What was happening? His mind started to reel and panic but then Conrad was walking around him to put the disc into the Playstation. 

Devon could almost convince himself he’d imagined the whole exchange except that his heart was beating too fast and his mouth was much too dry. He took another swig of his beer before joining Conrad on the couch. He was careful to leave space between them this time. 

After twenty minutes, Devon had all but forgotten the incident as he and Conrad were in pure competition mode. It wasn’t until Conrad got up to get more beers, and sat down next to Devon, bumping their knees together that it all came back.

He was calmer now and a little curious. He didn’t want to stress too much about what it meant that the touch seemed to send an electric shock up his spine. Instead he wanted to know what could happen next.

He moved his leg even closer as they started their next round of racing. This one had far less yelling, and Devon knew that for him it was because he was so distracted by how close Conrad was. But was it the same for Conrad?

“You’re not too bad at this,” Conrad said after yet another win. He leaned back into the couch.

Devon rolled his eyes. “Your fake modesty isn’t fooling me.”

Conrad laughed softly. 

Devon turned his head to look and sure enough, Conrad was watching him. They were caught in another moment that made Devon freeze. Only this time, he wasn’t totally overcome with panic. He just wanted to see what would happen...

His hands were a little clammy but as Conrad’s gaze dropped to Devon’s mouth and back up, Devon made his move. He turned his body to face Conrad and leaned forward, bracing an arm on the couch on the other side of Conrad’s head. And then he kissed him. 

It was quick yet soft and sure. A test.

Devon pulled back so their eyes could meet. So he could gauge Conrad’s reaction, which seemed to be shock. The wheels in Devon’s brain started to spin. Has he completely read this wrong? Did he just fuck everything up? How the fuck could they work together after this? 

Luckily he couldn’t go too far off the deep end before Conrad brought a hand up to his face and pulled him back in for a much rougher, sloppier kiss. A kiss that went on for so long but once it ended felt to short. Conrad pulled back first, chest heaving a little.

Devon watched him carefully, unsure of what would come next. 

“We need to stop. You’re drunk,” Conrad said.

Devon couldn’t help the burst of laughter that came out of him. “I promise you I’m not that drunk. We drank the same amount!”

“Yeah but you’re a lightweight,” Conrad joked half-heartedly.

“I want this,” Devon said, pressing another kiss to Conrad’s lips.

He still kissed back. “Don’t,” he pleaded softly. “I don’t want you to regret this.”

“It’s cute that you care about my virtue,” Devon said, kissing him again. “But I’m fine. And if you stay the night,” another kiss, “I promise I still won’t regret it in the morning.”

Conrad pushed him away gently, eyes searching. He seemed to be contemplating something. “I shouldn’t have come up.”

Devon was confused. “Wait, is that why you hesitated before with the cab?”

“Yes,” Conrad said slowly as if Devon was the ridiculous one.

“Wow. So you were thinking about this,” he said motioning between the two of them before continuing, “this whole time.”

Conrad raised his eyebrows. “Well, longer actually. But yes.” He spoke cautiously as if waiting to see what Devon would do.

Devon paused to consider all this, then he laughed giddily. “There is no way I’m letting you leave tonight,” he said, going in for another kiss.

Conrad lost his will to protest and apparently let passion take over finally as he put his hand to Devon’s thigh, picking up his leg so he could readjust their bodies more horizontally on the couch. 

Then Conrad was kissing his neck and biting his lips and Devon was actually gasping and feeling like he never had before. It was so different not having to be the alpha type, the dominant one. It was so easy to let Conrad takeover, who seemed so natural and expert with this raw power. 

Frustrated with trying to undo the buttons, Devon ripped open Conrad’s shirt, buttons spilling onto the floor. He hitched up Devon’s leg onto his waist to get a better angle, more friction. 

They lost the rest of their clothes quickly after that in a bit of an awkward fumbling, but never stopping their touching or kissing for very long. Conrad was in control and Devon let him stroke both their lengths together until there was a burst of light behind his eyes that were closed tight and Conrad gasping and moaning above him and collapsing on top of Devon, ignoring the sticky mess between their stomachs. 

They lay on the couch in silence until the warmth and relaxation finally wore off, and the uncomfortable sweat and stickiness became unbearable. “Get up. Shower.”

“Mmm,” was Conrad’s response as his body remained a heavy weight on top Devon. 

“Come on,” Devon said as he shoved with a little more force.

Conrad got up lazily, pulling his boxers on in a surprising display of modesty. Devon couldn’t help but smile. “Not much point in that since I’m joining you,” he said as he got up too and took Conrad by the hand to the bathroom.

Conrad just smiled back. “Worried I might run away?”

“Well I wasn’t until now,” Devon said, turning on the shower. “Now I’m definitely not letting you out of my sight.”

Conrad sucked in air through his teeth as if that might be a deal breaker. Then smiled in his shark-like way, “I think I can live with that.”

They showered quickly, because even though the hot water was nice it only made them more tired and Devon’s bones still felt a little like jelly. Then Devon dragged Conrad to bed. 

Conrad lay on his back, an arm bent under his head. Devon was on his stomach, with an arm thrown over Conrad’s chest. It was dark but moonlight came in through the large windows and lit up Conrad’s features. 

Conrad stared up at the ceiling and Devon was afraid to ask but said it anyway. “What are you thinking about?”

The serious face dropped away as Conrad turned to look at him with a smile. “Was it that obvious?”

“You’re always obvious,” Devon said.

Conrad laughed but never really answered the question. 

“Are you going to be the one regretting this in the morning? Because I won’t be,” he said. If there was any time to be honest, now, in their blissful, glowy state, was it. 

“No,” Conrad said, more seriously. “It won’t be me either.” He put a hand on Devon’s cheek, and leaned over to kiss him. 

Then he turned over, pulling Devon’s arm with him. Devon took it as the invitation it was to come closer and wrap his body around Conrad’s. It was a little surprising but maybe it made sense that needed this. And Devon could give it to him easily, and happily. And he held onto him firmly until he fell asleep. 

When Devon woke up, he was alone. He reached a hand out to the other side of the mattress, fearing he imagined it all. But the bed was still warm and then the smell of coffee wafted to his nostrils and he heard the clattering of mugs. 

He had no idea how to navigate whatever was happening, but for some reason he didn’t feel afraid. He got up to join Conrad in the kitchen, wrapping him in a hug from behind and kissing his neck, watching tension drain out of his shoulders in relief. 

“Good morning,” Conrad said in a gravelly voice that Devon was glad he never heard until now. It was irresistible.

“Yeah, it is,” Devon replied simply with a grin.


End file.
